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Interestingly Enough… The Life of Tom Keneally (Stephany Evans Steggall, Nero)

At school Thomas Keneally had ambitions to become a writer, a composer, an orator and even the pope. When he decided that he would never ‘be able to undertake the onerous duties of the priesthood’ and subsequently left St Patrick’s College in Sydney, he was penniless. The Place at Whitton, a fictionalised account of life in the seminary, published in 1964, began Tom Keneally’s long career as a writer of fiction, plays and nonfiction. At 80, Keneally continues to write his multi-volume work Australians and has a new novel due later this year. In recent times he has described himself not as a historian but rather ‘a novelist who nicks stories from history’; his interest in history, in particular Anglo-Irish history, began in the seminary and has informed much of his work. Stephany Evans Steggall’s comprehensive biography of Keneally is a biography of the man rather than just the writer. It provides great insight into the beliefs and influences of one of Australia’s most respected writers, and puts Keneally’s writing into context with the events of his life. Many of his early books are in part autobiographical, and Steggall illustrates the links in detail. She also discusses the effect of the somewhat controversial awarding of the Booker Prize for Schindler’s Arkon his subsequent career. Interestingly Enough… is a fascinating book about a fascinating man.

Chris Harrington is the co-owner of Books in Print in Melbourne

 

Category: Reviews